Special printed effects such as watermarks and glossmarks are desired options by users of printing systems. Digital watermarks serve the purposes of identifying quality and assuring authenticity. A digital watermark is generally invisible to the naked eye. It can be hid in naturally occurring variations throughout an image. Watermarks are designs or patterns placed onto printed document during its physical rendering. Watermarks are created by making thinner (line or wire watermarks) or thicker (shadow watermarks) on the layer of pulp when it is still wet.
Like watermarks, glossmarks can embed a unique image in a document to, for example, discourage counterfeiting. Information embedded in a glossmark print—for example, a seal or a date and time—catches the light when it is tilted and can be seen as an additional and separate image. But the embedded information cannot be reproduced on a conventional copier or scanner. Glossmark technology has two advantages over holograms and other laminates that are used to create similar effects on documents: the glossmark process does not require any additional printing steps or incremental costs, and it accommodates variable information, like a name, a timestamp or a code. Because a differential gloss pattern that creates the glossmark cannot be reproduced in a second generation copy, the pattern is secure. It can be used to put authenticating marks on high-value items, like tickets, and on ID cards and other valuable documents.
Object optimized rendering (OOR) includes methods for creating, decomposing and outputting a page image including run tags to a print engine which allows for the printing characteristics of individual objects tags and colors to be optimized, as in the hand-composing graphic arts field, while simultaneously retaining the benefits and efficiencies available when creating a page image using a microcomputer. Such page images are created using Page Description Languages (PDLs).
There are many PDLs in use today. Two of the most dominant languages are PostScript and PDF from Adobe Corporation. All PDLs provide a mechanism for dealing with the properties of the printer device they manage. This includes management of paper size, duplexing, document finishing options and so on. In implementations this is usually controlled via a device specific language extension. Modern PDLs allow the downloading of fonts, International Color Consortium (ICC) profiles, and so on.
Most methods for achieving special effects such as glossmarks and watermarks are complicated. What are needed are simplified methods for creating such effects.